Today’s progress consisted of trimming the tops to correct dimensions. I’d left them 1/16” too long front to back – don’t remember why. A few minutes with my router and a straightedge clamp fixed that. Then I proceeded to cut the 3/4” oak edge banding to rough dimension. Final trimming will be done with the router and a flush trimming bit. I decided to install the banding using “butt and pass” joinery; in other words one piece goes beyond the edge of the substrate and the next piece butts up against it and overlaps the substrate on the other end. This picture shows it better than I can explain it.

Butt and Pass Joinery Setup

The inside corner on these pieces throws a bit of a monkey wrench in the works in that one piece has to be cut to the precise dimension so the whole thing will fit together. On a workpiece with all outside corners they can all overlap, making the process easier. Even so, this method is much simpler than cutting outside and inside miter joints and trying to get it all to fit snugly. On the finished piece there will only be one line showing at each joint as Formica will cover the piece out to the face of the oak. There is a little bit of end grain showing but who cares? I built my previous router table wing this way and it’s doing fine after about 14-15 years in the garage.

I did the initial “clamping” with brad nails shot from a gun – thanks Norm! – best idea I’ve ever got from TV. The brads held everything in line while I installed and tightened the clamps. Only did one side today – running low on clamps that are long enough for this job. Here’s what it looks like with the clamps in place.